Novelty yarn

ABSTRACT

A novelty yarn formed of randomly arranged, pretwisted, relatively short, auxiliary strands spirally twisted around a ground strand of spun staple fibers.

United States Patent Rhyne Dec. 18, 1973 NOVELTY YARN [56] References Cited [75] Inventor: Johnathan L. Rhyne, Lincolnton, UNITED ST TES PATENTS 3,310,933 3/1967 16 57/36 ,83 W 7 l 9 [73] Assgnew Paul 'l Jseph 1.21 1229; 1m Be s/1 6k 5 7/31 R Lmcolmom 2,845,771 8/1958 Neisler .1 57/157 R Interest to each 3,447,307 6/1969 Rhyne 57/139 [22] Filed: Dec. 8, 1971 Primary Examiner-J0hn Petrakes [2]] Appl' 205,887 AttorneyDonald M. Seltzer [52] US. Cl 57/139, 57/36, 57/140 J, [57] ABSTRACT 57/144 A novelt y yarn formed of randomly arranged, pre 51 1111. C1 D02g 3/34, DO2g 3/36 T d l 581 Field 61 Search 57/139, 140 J, 141, relatvely Short my S 5pm! y twisted around a ground strand of spun staple fibers.

10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEB DEC 1 81975 sazinnrz' SPiNNiNG RovlNGr FRAME- FRAME- BREAKER. DRAW FRAME- STRANDS WISTED BAsE Suveas l NOVELTY YARN This invention relates to an improved novelty yarn of the general type known as a flake yarn, and it is an object of the invention to provide a novelty yarn spun as a singles yarn having randomly arranged, relatively short auxiliary strands effectively integrated therewith along its length.

Many different types of novelty yarns have been proposed heretofore, such as a yarn composed of two or more pretwisted ground strands with varying length roving strands intertwisted therewith, a spun yarn of staple fibers with short cut strands projecting therethrough, etc. To my knowledge, however, a novelty yarn has never been made heretofore capable of effectively integrating short pretwisted staple fiber strands of varying lengths with a singles spun ground strand while having the pretwisted strands largely exposed by being spirally wrapped or twisted around the ground strand.

It is therefore another object of this invention to provide a novelty yarn comprising a ground strand of spun staple fibers with a plurality of relatively short varying length auxiliary strands of pretwisted staple fibers randomly arranged along the ground strand and wherein the auxiliary strands are spirally twisted around the ground strand.

According to the invention, the auxiliary strands may be of the same or different color and/or dye affinity characteristics with respect to the ground strand and certain of the auxiliary strands may be of a different size, pretwist, color and/or dye affinity than others of the auxiliary strands.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a novelty yarn of the character described which is so constructed as to be capable of economical manufacture utilizing conventional textile machinery without the need for special equipment modifying such conventional machinery and thereby contributing to economical production of the novelty yarns.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. I is an elevation of a typical embodiment of the yarn of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating successive stages in a suitable method of making the yarn shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a greatly enlarged view of a short length of the yarn shown in FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 4-6 are schematic views of machinery for carrying out the successive stages in making the novelty yarn.

Referring more specifically to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 3 in its preferred embodiment, the novelty yarn of this invention is a singles or oneply yarn comprising an elongate uninterrupted body or ground strand ll of spun staple fibers. The pretwisted auxiliary strands are broadly designated at 12, some being of different color and/or dye affinity characteristics than others and, preferably, the ground strand 11 is of a color and/or dye affinity different from that of all of the auxiliary strands 12, according to the desired combination of colors in the textile product to be formed from the novelty yarn 10. All of the strands ll, 12 may be of the same color or kind, if desired, without departing from the invention.

As shown by way of example in. FIG. 1, the length of novelty yarn 10 there shown includes a white ground strand 11 of spun staple fibers and four different colors of relatively short varying length auxiliary strands 12 of pretwisted staple fibers respectively designated at a-d and which may be orange, purple, yellow and blue, respectively. In FIG. 3, three of the auxiliary strands a, b, c are shown with the ground strand 11, but at a larger scale than that of FIG. 1. It should be noted that all of the lengths of the pretwisted auxiliary strands of any given color in FIG. 1 are not necessarily formed from the same source strand as will be: later explained.

The different pretwisted auxiliary strands a-d may be of different dye affinities and/or colors, and the ground strand may be of a different dye affinity and/or color than each of the auxiliary strands,as desired. The yarn 10 may include only one color or kind of pretwisted auxiliary strand therein, or it may include more than the four different colors or kinds of pretwisted auxiliary strands mentioned above. strands, as

In any event, it will be observed in FIG. ,3 that the ground strand 11 is a spun or twisted staple fiber strand and that at least most of the auxiliary strands are pretwisted, also, the auxiliary strands are spirally twisted around the ground strand and have one or the other or both ends which are tapered and intertwisted with the fibers of the ground strand. In other words, each of most of the pretwisted auxiliary strands 12 is largely wrapped around the spun ground strand 11 with only the fibers at the opposite ends of the pretwisted auxiliary strands 12 being intertwisted with the fibers in the ground strand 11.

It will also be observed in FIGS. 1 and 3 that, although some of the pretwisted auxiliary strands 12 may be of the same length with respect to each other, each of most of the auxiliary strands 12 is of a different length than all of the others of the pretwisted auxiliary strands. Additionally, the different colors or kinds of pretwisted auxiliary strands are not arranged in any particular order so that there is an absence of any noticeable predetermined pattern of different colors or kinds of pretwisted auxiliary strands along the length of the yarn 10. This is exemplified by the random relationship of the reference characters a-d in FIG. 1.

Further, depending upon the frequency and length of the individual pretwisted auxiliary strands a-d one or more of the different colors or kinds of pretwisted auxiliary strands may overlap each other at their adjacent terminal ends or throughout their respective lengths. This feature may be most clearly understood by reference to FIG. 3 wherein, reading from the bottom of the view upwardly, it will be observed that the lower por tion only of one of the pretwisted auxiliary strands c is spirally twisted around the ground strand 1] and its terminal upper portion, which is intertwisted with the fibers of the ground strand 11, overlaps only a very short terminal lower portion of one of the pretwisted auxiliary strands a. Progressing upwardly, it will then be observed that the terminal lower end of one of the pretwisted auxiliary strands b is spaced above the terminal upper end of the last-mentioned pretwisted auxiliary strand 0, and the two strands a, b then spiral upwardly around the ground strand 11 with the terminal upper end of the last-mentioned pretwisted auxiliary strand b terminating a substantial distance below the terminal upper end of the last-mentioned pretwisted auxiliary strand a. It follows, therefore, that the auxiliary strand a in FIG. 3 is of substantially greater length than the adjacent auxiliary strand b. Depending upon the amount of twist in the ground strand 11, adjacent turns of each auxiliary strand 12 are spaced apart to further enhance the appearance of the novelty yarn 10.

Although some of the pretwisted auxiliary strands 12 may be ofa different size or count than others, and may or may not have been pretwisted a greater or lesser amount than others prior to spirally twisting the same around a common ground strand, it is generally preferred that the pretwisted auxiliary strands 12 are of about the same size or count as the ground strand 10. In this regard, even though the particular yarn represented by the illustrations in FIGS. 1 and 3 was made entirely of strands of the same count. It will be observed that, in some instances, some of the turns of some of the auxiliary strands have a pronounced bulkiness or are of larger cross-section as compared to other portions of the same respective pretwisted auxiliary strands, or as compared to other pretwisted auxiliary strands, as particularly shown in the central portion of FIG. 3. Thus, it can be seen that at least the medial portions of the varying length auxiliary strands 12 in the yarn are of varying sizes in cross-section.

The length of the auxiliary strands in the final yarn product is in large measure determined by the amount of pretwist therein, i.e., generally speaking, the higher the twist, the less draft will be imparted to the auxiliary strands in the formation of the final yarn product. Further, it will be understood that the greater the amount of drafting imparted to the auxiliary strands, the greater will be the increase in the length of the auxiliary strands in the final yarn product. It is, of course, to be distinctly understood that the amount of pretwist in the original yarn that the auxiliary strands are formed from is sufficient to tend to oppose the drafting effect and to permit a certain amount of the pretwist to remain in the auxiliary strands in the final yarn product. Also, from the foregoing, it will be apparent that the nature of the terminal end portions of the auxiliary strands will vary in accordance with the amount of draft imparted to the auxiliary strands, i.e., generally, the more drafting of the auxiliary strands, the more tapered and longer their end portions and, in extreme cases where the pretwist is of such high magnitude as to substantially oppose any drafting, the end portions willappear rather blunt with little visual evidence of any tapering thereof, as indicated at 12a in FIG. 3.

In the practice of the disclosed method of making the novelty yarn 10, the varying lengths of the various pretwisted auxiliary strands 12 and the order or sequence in which they will appear in the novelty yarn being formed are not pre-established, as is desirable. Essentially, therefore, only the number of different colors or kinds of auxiliary strands to be present in the novelty yarn is preestablished. The fact that the lengths and sequential arrangement of the various auxiliary strands 12 are not pre-established is advantageous in that (a) the auxiliary strands 12 are of random lengths along the length of the ground strand 11, (b) the auxiliary strands 12 are randomly spaced and/or randomly overlapped along the length of the ground strand 11, and (c) there is a completely random succession of auxiliary strands of the same or different color and/or dye affinity characteristics along the length of the ground strand 11.

In a preferred method of making the novelty yarn of this invention, it will be observed in FIG. 2 that a plurality of pretwisted source strands are fed into a breaker draw frame in superposed relation to a plurality of base slivers and, as the base slivers are drafted through the breaker draw frame, the pretwisted strands are broken into lengths of indefinite extent causing one or the other or both ends of each pretwisted short auxiliary strand thus formed to take on a somewhat tapered configuration-with the terminal fibers in untwisted condition, while the remainder of each such auxiliary strand largely remains in a twisted condition. The base slivers with the thus formed short auxiliary strands therein emerge from the breaker draw frame in the form of a single composite sliver which is then formed into a roving on a roving frame and, thereafter, the resultant roving is drafted and spun into the twisted yarn 10 on a spinning frame.

As shown in FIG. 4, the breaker draw frame is broadly designated at 15 and may include rear, intermediate and front pairs of drafting rolls 16, l7, 18 which define successive drafting zones 15a, 15b. Draw frame 15 may include only a single drafting zone or more than two drafting zones, but at least two drafting zones are preferred as will be later explained. The source strands, of which the lengths of auxiliary strands a-d are to be formed, are respectively designated at ad' in FIG. 4 and may be directed into the nip of the rear pair of drafting rolls 16 from respective sources, such as individual yarn packages. By way of example, a group 12' of eight pretwisted source strands, including two of each of the pretwisted strands a'-d, is being directed to the drafting rolls 16, concurrently with which a group of six slivers 11a is directed from a suitable source into the nip of the rear pair of drafting rolls 16. Thus, the base slivers 11a and the source strands 12' are in superposed relationship as they enter the nip of the rear pair of drafting rolls 16.

The nips of the successive pairs of drafting rolls 16-18 are spaced apart from each other a distance at least equal to the maximum staple length of the fibers in the base slivers 11a, and they are driven at progressively increasing speeds, as usual, to impart the desired amount of draft to the base slivers 11a as they pass through the successive drafting zones 15a, 15b. However, since the pretwisted strands a'-d are continuous as they enter the breaker draw frame 15, the successive portions thereof which pass through the rear breaker drafting zone 15a are broken into indefinite varying lengths as they are pulled forwardly and stretched by the intermediate pair of drafting rolls 17, from the nip of the rear drafting rolls 16, to form the relatively short auxiliary strands 12 of pretwisted staple fibers therefrom. The reason why the relatively short auxiliary strands 12 are of indefinite lengths is that those areas in a normal twisted strand which may be weaker than others along its length cannot be predetermined and, thus, the points at which each strand 12 will rupture as it is pulled and stretched between drafting rolls 16, 17 cannot be anticipated.

Depending upon such factors as the strength of the individual pretwisted source strands ad, the amount of pretwist therein, the amount of weight applied to the drafting rolls l6l8, the quantity and count of the source strands 12, the quantity and size of the base slivers 11a, the type of drafting rolls, etc., it may sometimes happen that one or more of the pretwisted source strands 12' may slip to some extent through the nip of the rear drafting rolls 16. However, if the spacing between the nips of the intermediate and front drafting rolls 17, 18 is about the same as the spacing between the rear and intermediate drafting rolls l6, 17, as is preferred, it has been found that any strands or portions thereof which slip through the rear drafting rolls 16 are broken in the front drafting zone 15b so that none of the relatively short auxiliary strands 12 thus formed at this stage in the process are of any considerable length and most of them are of no greater length than the spacing between the nips of the drafting rolls 15, 17, 18, respectively. To the contrary, most of the relatively short auxiliary strands may be of lesser length than that of each of the drafting zones 15a, 15b.

As the base slivers 11a are being drafted and the source strands 12' are being formed into the relatively short auxiliary strands 112 by the drafting rolls 16-18, the base slivers 11a are gathered together by, and formed into a composite sliver a by, a suitable condensing means or trumpet 21, from whence the c0mposite sliver 10a may be coiled into a suitable container or can 22 by a conventional coiling mechanism 23. Although the base slivers lla are being drafted and the auxiliary strands 12 are being formed by being pulled apart in the drafting zone a and/or the drafting zone 15b, the relatively short auxiliary strands l2 retain most of theoriginal twist therein which is present in the pretwisted source strands 12' of which the short auxiliary strands 12am to be formed. However, owing to the fact that each of the source strands 12' is pulled apart and ruptured by excessive. tensile force being applied thereto, as opposed to being cut, to form the respective short auxiliary strands 12 therefrom, the opposite or terminal end portions of at least most of the auxiliary strands 12 are rendered more susceptible to being tapered in the subsequent drafting stages.

As shown in FIG. 5, the composite sliver 10a thus formed is taken from can 22 and drafted through the drafting rolls ofa conventional roving frame 24 to form a roving-10b therefrom which is wound into a package P by means of a conventional flyer 25. The package P is then mounted on a conventional spinning frame 26 and drafted through the drafting rolls thereof to spin the same into the yarn 10 to which the desired amount of twist is imparted by the usual ring and traveler 27 as the yarn 10 is wound onto a bobbin 30 to complete the formation of the novelty yarn of this invention.

The ground stand 11 and the relatively short pretwisted auxiliary strands 12 may be formed of any desired type of natural or synthetic staple fibers and they may be of any desired staple length and it is desirable in most instances that some of the relatively short auxiliary strands are of a different color and/or dye affinity characteristic than other relatively short auxiliary strands 12 in the yarn 10, with each of the relatively short auxiliary strands 12 preferably being ofa different color and/or dye affinity than the ground strand 11.

As a non-limiting example, in forming a No. 2-count singles novelty yarn 10, six ends or strands of about 1 /2 inch staple polyester sliver, each weighing about 60 grains per yard, were used for the group of slivers 11a in FIG. 4, and eight ends or strands of singles, No. 2- count cotton yarn were used to form the group of pretwisted source strands 12' in FIG. 4, with the source strands a-d' being orange, purple, yellow and blue in color, respectively. The distance from the nip of the intermediate pair of drafting rolls .17 in FIG. 4 to the nips of the pairs of drafting rolls 16, 18 was about 1% and 1%, respectively. A total draft of about 8:1 was imparted to the base slivers Ila in their course through the draw frame 15, with a draft of 2:1 and a draft of 4:1 being imparted to the base slivers lllla in the respective drafting zones 15a, 15b. A relatively coarse novelty yarn 10 then was formed from the composite sliver 10a by imparting a total draft thereto 5:1 through the drafting rolls of the roving frame 24, and by imparting a total draft to the thus formed roving 10b of about 4:1 in its course through drafting rolls of the spinning frame 26 shown in FIG. 6.

In another example, the composite sliver 10a formed in the manner of the preceding example was subjected to a total draft of about 7:1 by the drafing rolls of the roving frame 24 to form the roving 10b therefrom, and the latter roving 10b was subjected to a total draft of about 12:1 by the drafting rolls of the spinning frame 26 to form a No. 12 count singles novelty yarn l0 therefrom.

It is to be noted that the drafting action imparted to the sliver 10a passing through the roving frame as well as the subsequent drafting action imparted to the roving 10b passing through the drafting zone of the spinning frame causes the relatively free fibers in the distal or terminal ends of most of the auxiliary strands 12 to become intermingled with the staple fibers forming the ground strand or body of the yarn but that the main body portions of the auxiliary strands remain intact due to the pretwist present therein. Further, it is to be noted that the pretwist present in the auxiliary strands causes the auxiliary strands during drafting to resist draft being imparted thereto and to gravitate or be displaced outwardly and be positioned along the outer surface of the ground or body yarn. Thus, during the twisting of the drafted sliver to form the roving therefrom and during the subsequent twisting of the drafted roving to form the final yarn product, the auxiliary strands by being positioned on the outer surface of the main body of the yarn will be spirally wrapped therearound. This spiral wrapping is increasingly pronounced in the twisting zone of the spinning frame as compared to the twisting zone of the roving frame due in part to the fact that the auxiliary strands have been further drafted in passing through the drafting zone of the spinning frame. thus, the distal ends of the respective relatively short auxiliary strands 12 are integrated and intertwisted with the ground strand 11 while the remaining portion of each auxiliary strand 12 is spirally wrapped or twisted around the ground strand. It has been found that in many instances the opposite end portions of auxiliary strands l2 become more tightly wrapped around the ground strand 11 than the medial portions thereof with the result that there is a tendency for some of the auxiliary strands 12 to be more tightly spirally wrapped about the ground strand 11 than others. Consequently, some of the strands tend to blossom and become of larger diameter or cross-section than others of the auxiliary strands, thus further enhancing the aesthetic appearance of the novelty yarn.

Although the foregoing examples have been described utilizing six base silvers lla and eight pretwisted source strands 12 in FIG. 4, it is to be distinctly understood that the number of base slivers to be used in forming the novelty yarn, and the amount of draft imparted to the base slivers may be varied as desired in accordance with the ultimate desired size of the novelty yarn to be formed therefrom, and any desired number of source strands 12 may be used, depending upon the desired frequency or density to the auxiliary strands of different characteristics to be present in the novelty yarn 10 as well as the desired number of different colors to be present in the ultimate yarn 10 or the products to be formed therefrom. It is apparent that, where auxiliary strands 12 and/or a ground strand ll of relatively differing dye affinity are to be used in forming the novelty yarn 10, the ultimate desired different shades or colors appearing in the yarn will not be obtained until the novelty yarn is dyed or the product of which the yarn is formed is piece-dyed, as is well known to those familiar with the art.

It is thus seen that l have produced an improved novelty yarn including a ground strand of spun staple fibers and a plurality of relatively short auxiliary strands of pretwisted staple fibers which are randomly arranged along the length of the ground strand with the auxiliary strands being spirally twisted around the ground strand. From the foregoing description, it is apparent that all of the relatively short strands are of indefinite varying lengths, and they are also randomly disposed along the length of the ground strand 11 in such a manner to the extent that certain auxiliary strands 12 may be spaced apart from each other, others may overlap at their proximal ends, and others may be spirally twisted around the ground strand in side-by-side relationship in certain portions of the novelty yarn 10.

In the drawings and specification there have been set forth preferred embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only.

That which is claimed is:

l. A novelty yarn comprising a single ground strand of spun staple fibers, and a plurality of relatively short varying length auxiliary strands of staple fibers having a pretwist therein and being randomly arranged along said ground strand, said auxiliary strands being spirally twisted around said ground strand and wherein certain adjacent auxiliary strands are spaced apart lengthwise from each other, and wherein other auxiliary strands have proximal portions which overlap each other.

2. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein still other auxiliary strands have substantial portions of the lengths thereof overlapping one another.

3. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein at least the medial portions of said varying length auxiliary strands are of varying sizes in cross-section.

4. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein at least some of said auxiliary strands have tapered opposite ends intertwisted with the fibers of said ground strand.

5. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein some of said auxiliary strands have a different amount of pretwist therein than others.

6. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein some of said auxiliary strands are of a different color from other auxiliary strands.

7. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein at least certain of said auxiliary strands are of a different color than said ground strand.

8. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein some of said auxiliary strands are of a different dye affinity than other auxiliary strands.

9. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein at least certain of said auxiliary strands are of a different dye affinity than said ground strand.

10. A novelty yarn comprising a single ground strand of spun staple fibers, a plurality of relatively short varying length and varying diameter auxiliary strands of staple fibers having a pretwist therein and being randomly arranged along said ground strand, said auxiliary strands being spirally twisted around said ground strand. 

1. A novelty yarn comprising a single ground strand of spun staple fibers, and a plurality of relatively short varying length auxiliary strands of staple fibers having a pretwist therein and being randomly arranged along said ground strand, said auxiliary strands being spirally twisted around said ground strand and wherein certain adjacent auxiliary strands are spaced apart lengthwise from each other, and wherein other auxiliary strands have proximal portions which overlap each other.
 2. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein still other auxiliary strands have substantial portions of the lengths thereof overlapping one another.
 3. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein at least the medial portions of said varying length auxiliary strands are of varying sizes in cross-section.
 4. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein at least some of said auxiliary strands have tapered opposite ends intertwisted with the fibers of said ground strand.
 5. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein some of said auxiliary strands have a different amount of pretwist therein than others.
 6. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein some of said auxiliary strands are of a different color from other auxiliary strands.
 7. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein at least certain of said auxiliary strands are of a different color than said ground strand.
 8. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein some of said auxiliary strands are of a different dye affinity than other auxiliary strands.
 9. A novelty yarn according to claim 1, wherein at least certain of said auxiliary strands are of a different dye affinity than said ground strand.
 10. A novelty yarn comprising a single ground strand of spun staple fibers, a plurality of relatively short varying length and varying diameter auxiliary strands of staple fibers having a pretwist therein and being randomly arranged along said ground strand, said auxiliary strands being spirally twisted around said ground strand. 